Smartphone accessory Samsung scans environment for objects

Samsung has released an accessory for its Galaxy Core Advance smartphone that allows users to scan the environment with ultrasound. Users get the results via vibration or narration. The accessory is intended for the blind and partially sighted.

The accessory is called Ultrasonic Cover and, as the name suggests, users can slide this accessory over the Galaxy Core Advance like a case. The case can emit and receive ultrasonic sound, detecting objects up to two meters away from the phone. The user knows this thanks to vibrations or a voice telling it through the phone’s speaker.

The case is part of a line of three accessories for the smartphone, which Samsung has aimed at people with a visual impairment. The other two are an Optical Scan Stand, a table-like accessory with which the phone can scan and read texts, and a Voice Label, an nfc sticker for, for example, electronics that can read the phone. The label can provide an explanation of what the object is where it is stuck.

The Galaxy Core Advance has a 4.7″ LCD with a resolution of 800×480 pixels. The Android 4.2 smartphone runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400-soc with two processor cores at 1.2GHz and an Adreno 305 GPU, in combination with a RAM of 1GB The phone does not have 4G on board The battery has a capacity of 2000mAh, while the phone measures 133x71x9.7mm and weighs 145 grams.

The Galaxy Core Advance also has an FM radio on board and has a feature called Screen Curtain, which allows users to use certain features while the screen is off; this is done by pressing the Power button twice.